A Spoonful of Sugar
by Angelv98
Summary: What did the Hyuuga have that he didn't?


**A Spoonful of Sugar**

_Chapter One_

-Lollipops-

Oh how he hated hospitals. When he was younger, and crazy, he hated hospitals because he was not the cause of the patients' pain and suffering. Now he hated them because it reminded him of his mother's death. Something he had never fully understood, nor appreciated, until Naruto brought him out of his insanity.

On this particular day he was on his way to visit the Konoha hospital. He was in town reviewing the peace treaty between Sand and Leaf with the Fifth Hokage, and his council of elders wanted him to get a checkup. It was completely unnecessary, because he felt fine. But since they were in the city where the best medics lived, he had no choice but to go.

When he walked into the hospital he went straight to the receptionist. He didn't want to be in here longer than necessary. He was told that Dr. Haruno would be the one looking him over. Why did that name sound so familiar?

As he headed down the hall towards his examination room, a flash of pink caught his attention. Ah, so that was why the name sounded familiar. He recalled Temari telling him something about how Sakura had saved Kankuro's life and was now one of the best medics in the country.

She was farther down the hallway, with a boy who had the distinct features of a Hyuuga. It was apparent to Gaara that she was just finishing the appointment, and would be with him soon, so he decided to wait for her in his examination room. Right before he went in though, he saw Sakura lean down, and give the Hyuuga a kiss on his forehead.

* * *

Hioshi Hyuuga was one of the sweetest little boys she had ever met. He was one of the few children in the village with diabetes, so he couldn't have a lollipop when he finished his checkups. Instead, Sakura gave him a kiss on the forehead as a different form of sweets. As long as he behaved and took his medicine when he was supposed to, Sakura always gave him a kiss. Once, he decided to throw away his medicine because it tasted nasty. When Sakura found out, she gave him more, and sent him away from the hospital without any form of sweets. Since then, he had been an angel. So when they finished his appointment, she bent down and gave him his kiss.

* * *

He was perplexed. Every time he went to the hospital, he didn't get a kiss from his nurses. Not that he would appreciate such a gesture, but the little boy had seemed happy. So he asked a nurse that was passing by.

"Oh yeah, Sakura gives him a kiss as a treat for being good! It's a great method if you ask me."

Now he wanted one too. If one simple thing can make that boy happy, it would surely make him, Sabaku no Gaara, ecstatic.

When Sakura entered his room, he was already anticipating the kiss.

"Hello Gaara. How are you today?" she asked, picking up his chart and looking it over.

"Fine." He said, watching her.

She glanced up at him. "Are you having any problems?"

"No."

"Well I'm just gonna do a quick chakra scan to see if there is anything wrong. That way we can fully satisfy the council members." She told him, setting the chart down on the counter.

"If you must." He said with a resigned sigh.

She walked over and put her hand on his chest, and soon it was glowing green with medical chakra. It was strange at first to feel another's chakra in his system, but Sakura's felt warm and happy. He knew that sounded weird to say that her chakra felt happy, but that was the only way he knew to describe it.

"Yup, you're healthy as a horse." With that she walked back to the counter and began to write some things on the chart.

This was it. He was done with his exam, so it was time for her to kiss him right? So he leaned closer to her, wanting to make it easier for her to reach his forehead.

When he did so, Sakura couldn't help but be confused. Usually he would leave as fast as he could when his checkups were over.

"Is there something else you needed?" she asked, turning to face him.

"My treat." He said simply.

Her brow furrowed. "What do you mean by treat?"

"My treat for being a good patient." He elaborated. He didn't understand, why did he have to explain this to her? Shouldn't she already know? Did she not give treats to all of her patients? What a strange girl.

Understanding lit her eyes, and she smiled. "Oh! I'll get you one!" She said, walking over to the cabinet and pulling out an assortment of suckers. "We have cherry, orange, lemon, and green apple. Which one do you want?" she asked, glancing up from the container and looking at him.

"…..cherry." he said, giving her a blank look.

"Ok here you go!" She said, searching the container and holding a sucker out to him. Once she handed him the sicker, she picked up his chart and turned to leave the room. "You may leave now Gaara, we're all done here." She said before disappearing through the door.

Gaara stared at the door, feeling a wave of disappointment wash over him. Along with confusion. What did the Hyuuga have that he didn't have? When she pulled out all those suckers he was going to refuse to eat one, but the look of pure honesty in her eyes stopped him. So he settled for a cherry one, and gave it to some random kid he saw on his way back to the hotel.

Maybe he just hadn't done something right. Maybe he actually needed to have something wrong with him in order to get a kiss. Maybe the kiss was for the injured, not the healthy. But how could he injure himself? He never got sick, and any time that anyone tried to harm him his sand protected him. Although, now that he didn't have Shukaku, maybe he would be more successful in controlling the sand shield. He would have to test this theory tomorrow.

* * *

"Sakura! The Kazekage has had an accident and is waiting for you in examination room twelve! Hurry!"

"On my way!" the pink haired medic said, stopping what she was doing and heading down the hall in a hurry.

Gaara had an accident? This was strange. How could Gaara, the one with the sand shield and the sand armor, get into an accident? Worry filled her, because in order for him to be injured, it must be something serious. She ran as fast as she could into the examination room, and when she got there, she burst through the door.

"I came as fast as I could. What happened?" she asked, her emerald eyes filled with concern.

At that, Gaara held up his finger, "I got a paper cut." He said simply.

She gave him a look of disbelief. "You got a paper cut. On your pinky."

"Yup." He nodded.

She walked over and took his hand in hers in order to look at it. Sure enough, there was a miniscule paper cut, about a centimeter long, that way barely bleeding. "I'll heal it then." She said, using a miniscule amount of chakra.

When she finished, Gaara leaned closer to her, just like he had last time. She suspected that he wanted a treat. Oh, he would get a treat all right, just not the one he wanted. Faster than the average eye can see, she grabbed his shirt in both of his hands and began to shake him roughly.

Gaara had to admit, he was surprised at her boldness. For when she had grabbed his shirt, he'd thought she was going to kiss him. How wrong he had been.

"You idiot!" she yelled in his face, still shaking him. "Who comes to the Emergency Room with a paper cut? Huh? You could have just put a band-aid on it you big baby! The next time you come here with something so small I'll show you what a serious accident looks like!" she threatened, letting go of him and stomping out of the room.

Gaara frowned, righting his rumpled clothing. The least she could have done was ask him if he was alright. That paper cut had hurt damnit. Although, the fact that she had threatened him was amusing. There was no way she would ever be able to hurt him. Ever.

It had been difficult enough to prevent the shield from protecting him, while at the same time deactivating his sand armor. It took a lot of concentration. Perhaps he would just have to try harder. This would be a challenge. One that he would not back down from. With that, he left the hospital, a dark smile on his face as he planned his next course of action. They do say the third time's the charm after all.

* * *

She couldn't believe he had caused such a fuss over one measly paper cut. She had experienced far worse while on a mission and had hardly said a word about it. Damn that man. She had been genuinely concerned for him too.

So, when she went to work the next day and heard that Gaara was waiting for her in the exam room from yesterday, she was pissed. She walked into the room, ready to put him in his place one more. "Ok buddy if you even think that I'm going to heal another pap-"

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him. His breathing was ragged, and he had a huge gash in his right arm. Letting out a gasp, she ran to his side and instantly began to heal him. "Oh my kami! Gaara what happened? Are you ok?" she asked in concern.

The redhead had to refrain from rolling his eyes. Oh, so _now_ she's concerned. Great. Now that he's drained over half of his chakra in order to cut himself, and is about to pass out from exhaustion, she actually cares. Just great. If he didn't get a kiss this time he was going to go ballistic.

Although, he did love the feeling of her chakra mixing with his. His body didn't reject it, as it did other medics, and it made him feel safe. When she finished, he didn't even have the energy to lean closer to her.

Sakura herself couldn't fathom how he had managed to get his arm cut. Maybe his sand shield and armor didn't work as well now that Shukaku wasn't there to give them extra chakra. At least she had gotten to him before he fainted from blood loss. That would have been a huge blow to his ego.

"You should be fine now, you just need to rest for a while." She said, checking the rest of him to make sure he was all right. When she started to leave the room she heard Gaara say,

"Where are you going?"

"To get your chart. I will be back in a few minutes. Just lie down and relax." She instructed, exiting the room.

When she came back, Gaara was still sitting, which annoyed her, and for some reason he looked really tense. Tenser than he usually did anyway. "Alright, are you feeling any pain in your arm?" she asked, writing a few things down on his chart.

"No." he said.

She looked back up at him. "Are you sure? Because I can give you some medi-"

"Sakura the healing job you performed was excellent. I will not require any medicine." He interrupted, trying his best not to let his annoyance show.

"Oh ok. Well then you're free to go! Try to be more careful in the future." She smiled brightly. As she turned to leave the room Gaara said,

"Why won't you kiss me?"

The pink haired woman halted in her tracks and looked back at him, shock the only thing evident on her face. "W-w-what?" she asked, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Why won't you kiss me? Am I doing something wrong in the way of the patient?" he asked, looking genuinely curious.

"Umm, Gaara you're not doing anything wrong. But why would I kiss you? We are not dating, in fact we hardly know each other, and it would be inappropriate." She said, a small blush forming on her face.

"As my treat." He stated.

"Your what?" she asked.

He sighed, hating having to keep repeating himself for her. "My treat. Just like you gave the Hyuuga boy a kiss instead of a lollipop. A nurse said that you did that all the time."

She blinked, beginning to understand where he was going with this. "Well yeah, but only for him."

He crossed his arms. "So you're a cougar?" he asked, raising what could be a brow.

"What? No! Hioshi is a diabetic, so he can't have any lollipops. Instead, I give him a kiss as a treat." She explained quickly, not wanting him to get the wrong idea about her. Everything he was saying was only causing her to blush an even deeper shade of pink.

"Oh. Well I don't like sweets, so you should give me a kiss instead as well." He said with a nod.

Did he not hear how weird this whole conversation sounded? Although, in Gaara-logic, this probably made perfect sense. "I'm not going to kiss you Gaara. That would be weird." She said.

Gaara's almost pleased face turned into a frown, and he glared lightly at her. "How many times do I have to cause injury to myself in order to receive one?"

Her eyes widened. "What? You did that to yourself?" she asked, looking back at his arm.

"Yes, and you wouldn't believe how hard it was." He said.

"You are an even bigger idiot than I thought you were! How could you? That's wrong!" she said, berating him. He didn't seem to be absorbing any of this though, so with a sigh, she decided to try a different approach. "If I kiss you will you stop hurting yourself?"

The pleased look came back to his face. "Yes."

"Promise?" she asked softly, raising a delicate brow.

"Yes." He repeated.

Sakura let out a sigh. "Fine."

So she leant in, closed her eyes, and kissed his forehead. When her lips made contact with his forehead, he closed his eyes in contentment. Her lips were a lot softer than they looked. She pulled away too quickly for his liking though. And before he could thank her, she ran out of the room. He figured she was just embarrassed or something. So like a girl, he thought with a roll of his eyes.

If a kiss on the forehead felt so wonderful, he wondered what he would have to do in order to receive a kiss on the lips. He smiled slightly as he left the hospital, walking down the street towards his hotel. The rest of his stay in Konoha looked to be really promising.

* * *

Sakura was currently hiding in her makeshift office, which was actually a storage closet. She couldn't believe she'd just kissed Gaara, even though it was on the forehead. When it was over she had run out of the room as fast as she could, in order to keep Gaara from seeing her face, which was now a deep shade of crimson. She hoped that she didn't see him for the rest of his visit. It would be extremely awkward for her. If she did see him, hopefully he wouldn't bring it up, and would just forget about it. Because as she was kissing his soft, smooth skin, she had wondered what it would be like to kiss him on the lips.

She shook her head, trying to clear her head. She could not afford to entertain thoughts such as those, especially about the redheaded Kazekage. With that thought in mind, she decided to just pretend like it never happened, and went off to see her next patient.


End file.
